"Why has everyone gone quiet? Isn't it good news that her mother's relatives have come to find her?" Xu Ruying interjected curiously, instantly breaking the heavy atmosphere.
The messenger nodded vigorously in agreement. "Yes, yes, it's good news indeed. Even the errand runners get paid for this."
Unaware of the complexities of the situation, Xu Ruying smiled and said, "Li Xiaoya, is your mother's family so wealthy?"
Li Xiaoya had already wiped away her tears. She replied softly, "I don't know... I've never met them before."
Xu Ruying was shocked. She almost asked if Li Xiaoya's mother had eloped, but being from a well-educated family herself, she knew better than to voice such a speculation and swallowed her words.
"After years of no contact, they suddenly come looking for you. It might not be good news after all," Xu Ruying suggested.
The messenger became anxious. "How could that be? It must be good news! They're wearing suits and leather shoes, and they even gave us cigarettes and money. How can you say they're bad people?"
Xu Ruying was left speechless.
Sheng Yuxiao, suspecting that Xu Ji might have sent these people, chimed in, "Let's go and see them."
But it was Li Xiaoya herself who spoke up, her tone resolute: "I need to go to school first. I'll meet him after classes."
The messenger slapped his thigh in frustration. "What's the point of going to school now? Your relatives are clearly rich! I heard they're much wealthier than Li Hongguang, whose company has supposedly gone bankrupt..."
"Why have my mother's family only come looking for me now?" Li Xiaoya asked quietly.
The messenger, not well-educated, was stumped by the question.
"Why didn't he come here directly?" Li Xiaoya pressed on.
The messenger was at a loss for words but quickly countered, "City folks, you know? They've got a lot of pride. Of course, they'd want us to go see them. How could they come here to meet a child like you?"
A flash of disappointment crossed Li Xiaoya's face, and her tone suddenly became firm: "Then he's not my mother's relative."
The messenger was dumbfounded. "What are you saying? How is that possible? Why else would city folk come all this way to claim kinship?"
By now, Li Xiaoya had grasped Sheng Yuxiao's hand and said, "Let's go. We need to get to school."
Sheng Yuxiao nodded, also greatly alarmed internally.
Was this person sent by his uncle? How could they be so stupid? Why put on such airs?
After mentally berating this person, Sheng Yuxiao couldn't help but pat Li Xiaoya's head, saying, "You really are..."
"Li Xiaoya, you're quite clever!" Xu Ruying cut in first. She was increasingly impressed by this child.
People often say that one's environment determines one's limitations.
But Li Xiaoya... She might not know what LV is or what a five-star hotel looks like, but she seemed to have an uncanny understanding of human nature. The two tears she shed earlier showed that she was indeed moved, but she quickly regained her composure.
Xu Ruying mused that her parents might really like this girl. For researchers like them, they disliked nothing more than overly emotional people. And someone who could maintain calm and rational thinking regardless of their circumstances was highly valued in any field!
Li Xiaoya still went to school.
Sheng Yuxiao, afraid of hurting her feelings, leaned in close behind her as they walked and whispered in her ear, "This person was sent by me to try and get your guardianship away from your grandfather."
Li Xiaoya wasn't upset. She thought for a moment and then said, "But that doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't make sense?"
"Why wouldn't he dare to come here?"
Sheng Yuxiao, who had been focused on Li Xiaoya until now, suddenly understood when he heard her question.
"This person either doesn't dare to be seen or doesn't dare to meet me. Or both," Sheng Yuxiao paused, then chuckled coldly. "It seems you were right. This might really be bad news after all."
Xu Ruying was shocked by their conclusion and promptly said, "Damn, what's this person after? I'll go check it out. Wait here."
"Don't worry," Sheng Yuxiao reassured Li Xiaoya in a low voice.
If it weren't for them, who knows how many more monsters and demons Li Xiaoya would have to face alone!
The "maternal relative" mentioned by the messenger was waiting at the village committee office. When Xu Ruying arrived, she found that Dou Dawei was there too.
Dou Dawei was carrying two bags. Upon seeing Xu Ruying, he quickly greeted her, "Miss Xu, I originally came to bring some ham for Xiaoya. Then I heard that Xiaoya's relatives had come looking for her, so I came to check it out."
Xu Ruying was quite surprised.
There were quite a few people who cared about Li Xiaoya, it seemed.
Dou Dawei stepped closer and lowered his voice, "But this person doesn't seem to want to talk to me at all."
Xu Ruying looked over at the person in question.
The man was wearing a black suit, with a scar across his face. He appeared to be of mixed heritage, possibly with some English and French blood. He looked menacing. After a while, he glanced at his wristwatch, then said to the villagers in an extremely cold tone, "I paid you, but you haven't done what I asked."
"Hey, what relation are you to Li Xiaoya?" Xu Ruying asked.
"Her death soldier."
Xu Ruying almost burst out laughing, "What era are you living in? Death soldier?"
The man in the black suit stared at her grimly, offering no explanation.
"Alright, so you're like a death soldier from those period dramas, right? That means you're Li Xiaoya's subordinate, and she's your master. Since when does a master come to see their subordinate?" Xu Ruying thought to herself, "Are you out of your mind?"
The man in black remained motionless. "She hasn't earned my recognition yet."
Xu Ruying was speechless.
She cursed, "You really think you're in a period drama, don't you?"
Finding the conversation futile, Xu Ruying turned and left.
That evening.
When Li Xiaoya returned home, Xu Ruying immediately approached her and said, "That so-called relative might be mentally ill."
She then relayed the "death soldier" comment.
Li Xiaoya listened with wide-eyed amazement and said, "It's like a wuxia novel."
"You even read wuxia novels? Do you know what wuxia novels are?" Xu Ruying asked.
Li Xiaoya tilted her head, her face clearly saying, "I'm not stupid, you know."
Xu Ruying could only clear her throat and say, "Well then, let me test you..."
"No need for tests," Sheng Yuxiao interrupted.
With his vast knowledge and experience, he said, "This style seems a bit like the Wei family."
"The Wei family?" Xu Ruying asked.
"No, it's 'gui', but when used as a surname, it's pronounced 'wei'."
Without thinking, Xu Ruying said, "Li Xiaoya, even if they really are your relatives, don't acknowledge them, okay? What an ugly surname!"
Sheng Yuxiao gave her a sidelong glance and said, "Hold on, let me make a call."
Fortunately, Sheng Yuxiao had accumulated many points recently, and it wasn't during a live broadcast period, so he casually dialed his uncle's number.
"Uncle, can I put you on speaker?" Sheng Yuxiao asked politely.
If the staff were here, they would have been shocked to see him acting this way.
"Hmm? Who do you want to hear?" his uncle asked.
"No one special, just our own people: Xu Ruying, Ning Heng, and Li Xiaoya."
Xu Ji didn't correct him about Li Xiaoya not being one of their own.
He simply said, "Go ahead, what's the matter?"
So Xu Ruying recounted the story once more.
Xu Ji's voice was gentle, and even through the phone line, you could imagine him relaxed on a sofa, lazily propping his chin with one hand.
He said, "Oh, that's the Sicilian style. They're fond of this 'death soldier' concept."
"The Sicilian Mafia? Didn't they decline centuries ago?" Ning Heng interjected, puzzled.
"But there have always been people controlling them, namely the overseas Chinese Wei family, though people are used to calling them the Wei family," Xu Ji seemed to recall something and said, "I heard they've recently returned to China because their boss is dying and desperately wants to return to his roots. There's an interesting anecdote, would you like to hear it?"
Despite not being much older, Xu Ji adopted the tone of an elder indulging younger ones.
"Please, do tell," Xu Ruying obliged.
"Wei Xuanming, the head of the Wei family, has had six children in his lifetime. His eldest son and daughter died young, his second daughter has a mental illness, his second son is paralyzed, his youngest daughter is missing, and his youngest son is mute. Some say that Wei Xuanming climbed too high and incurred heaven's wrath, cursed with ill fortune regarding his children. Wei Xuanming actually believed this and later converted to Islam. But it doesn't seem to have helped much, as his life is now coming to an end..."
Sheng Yuxiao abruptly hung up the phone with a "click."
Xu Ji on the other end: ?
Sheng Yuxiao looked at Li Xiaoya and said in a low voice, "In little uncle's mouth, everything in this world is called 'interesting news'. He doesn't mean to make fun of you."
Li Xiaoya nodded slightly, looking somewhat bewildered.
So, are they... really her relatives?
At this moment, Sheng Yuxiao's phone rang again.
Xu Ji's voice came through from the other end: "You dare to hang up on me?"
After saying that, he changed his tone: "If the Wei Family claims to be Li Xiaoya's relatives, then you need to be careful about Li Xiaoya's life. Do you know how enormous Wei Xuanming's fortune is? Whether they're cousins, distant relatives, or close kin, everyone will covet this immense wealth. Moreover... if one could become Wei Xuanming's heir, it's not impossible to be an underground king abroad."
After finishing, this time Xu Ji hung up first.
Sheng Yuxiao's brows furrowed tightly, but he heard Li Xiaoya asking softly, "So, they're looking for me because of the inheritance? Will someone try to kill me?"
"Yes, but don't be afraid, we will protect you," Sheng Yuxiao said firmly.
However, Li Xiaoya frowned, looking somewhat sad: "What about them?"
"Who?"
"The second daughter with mental illness, the paralyzed second son, the mute youngest son... they're also legal heirs, right? Will people want to kill them too?"
Sheng Yuxiao was speechless.
She was actually worried about relatives she had never met before!
